Free time? Games? YouTube videos? No Structure? These are just some of the things that this semester consisted of. Not saying that it was a bad semester. For people who actually did their work consistently throughout the course and didn't rely on their fellow group members to do the wiki work for them, I would have to say that it was actually a fairly good course. It took a lot of self discipline, planning out of weekends and week nights, and organization to make it through this course with no hair falling out of my head and steam coming out of my ears. I actually liked this course for the one main reason of that I read novels that I most likely would never have picked off of the library shelf and read all the way through. Some may of complained every day but those people are just the ones who did not plan well and didn't use the piles of in class work periods that were given to us. Even though it was impossible to read in the classroom because of YouTube videos and other people having room filling group conversations I still managed to make my way though.
If it were up to me to make some changes in this course I would mainly want to change the fact that we needed more mac books. Seeing as a class of 30 bodies (not all responsive 100% of the time) with over 30 different books being read and wiki profiles to be updated it was nearly impossible to get a good amount of work completed in the time given, while trying to share a mac book. But I don't blame you (Farmer) for this because what can an English teacher do about the amount of mac books provided by the school? Nothing. There is one thing though that I would change about this course and it would be the amount of structure in it. I'm not English teacher but I feel as though teenagers who are given a computer for over an hour seem to not always do the work that is asked of them to do.
As I'm thinking of it right now I am actually beginning to realize that you (Mr. Farmer) were right and I have learned a lot more then I would if we were lectured for 75 minutes each day about how Hamlet was a tragic hero and how he actually was not a person trapped in the art of procrastination. I learned many life skills which you do not expect to learn from English class, such as time management, and organization. These though are the type of skills that I personally will need in my future career. For English skills, I have become fairly good at classifying poetry and finding the different rhythmic and rhyme schemes in several different poems. I have also realized many differences in female writing styles over males. Females tend to use a lot more pronouns such I, Me, He, and She. While males use a lot more nouns.
This might be my last English class ever but I have got to say it for sure was one that I will remember for a life time.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Sense and Sensibility
"Sense and Sensibility" one of Jane Austen's famous novels, is fairly similar to one of her other works which I have previously read, "Pride and Prejudice". I would do this blog on comparing the two and showing the several ways that they are alike and also the ways that they differ, but two others in my Women in Literature group have already done that. So I have decided that I am going to just write some of my true feelings about this novel.
Many people would say that it is a great novel which it is, but I would have to say that it takes a very long time to get to the greatness of it. It was very interesting in some ways such as all of the drama between who Mrs. Dashwood's daughters (Elinor and Marianne) loved and who loved them back. It was an ongoing search for their true love and finally within the last few chapters it finally all comes down to the fine line of who truly loves who. I also liked this novel because of some of the characters. There were several characters in this novel that you can find in everyday life, there's the bitchy ones, the crazy ones, and the out going ones. There is at least one of each of these types of characters in this novel which makes it a little bit more entertaining to read. The end of this novel was the best part for the fact that there was a lot of suspense and conflicts relieved.
I felt as though this novel was not as quite as good "Pride and Prejudice" because "Pride and Prejudice" was slightly faster moving and had more plot in the beginning and middle of the novel. I would have to say that it was a good novel but if I were to suggest any of Jane Austen's novels to anyone I would have to go for "Pride and Prejudice."
Many people would say that it is a great novel which it is, but I would have to say that it takes a very long time to get to the greatness of it. It was very interesting in some ways such as all of the drama between who Mrs. Dashwood's daughters (Elinor and Marianne) loved and who loved them back. It was an ongoing search for their true love and finally within the last few chapters it finally all comes down to the fine line of who truly loves who. I also liked this novel because of some of the characters. There were several characters in this novel that you can find in everyday life, there's the bitchy ones, the crazy ones, and the out going ones. There is at least one of each of these types of characters in this novel which makes it a little bit more entertaining to read. The end of this novel was the best part for the fact that there was a lot of suspense and conflicts relieved.
I felt as though this novel was not as quite as good "Pride and Prejudice" because "Pride and Prejudice" was slightly faster moving and had more plot in the beginning and middle of the novel. I would have to say that it was a good novel but if I were to suggest any of Jane Austen's novels to anyone I would have to go for "Pride and Prejudice."
Lives of Girls And Women
I have recently read the novel "Lives of Girls and Women" written by Alice Munro. This novel is a collection of eight different short stories that she has written earlier in her life. All of these short stories are slightly connected in the way that they all are stories about the main character Del's life and the challenges she goes through. All of these stories are also connected because they take place in the small town of Jubilee where Del lives just a mile away of.
While reading this novel I had many mixed feelings for it. Some of the stories in it were fairly interesting and not boring, while others did not appeal to me one bit. I really enjoyed the first section of this novel which was called The Flats Road. This story kept me on my feet at all times with no stops in the rise and fall of the climax. The story had the feel where you got pulled into it because you felt for the characters, especially for Diane (Madeleine's daughter) and Del's Uncle Benny. This short story was the best in my perspective also because in a way you could relate it to the society we live in and many challenges that people right next to us might be going through.
I also took interest in the fourth short story "Age Of Faith." This section of the novel was very well written I found, because Alice Munro was able to write it in a way that it did not make it go against any religions. Any Catholic to Atheist human being can read this chapter and agree with what is being said because there was so many different views and it shows that what ever you believe in you should continue to believe in. Del goes against her mother showing that she is trying find her place in religion where her mother is not. Going to a public school you see a lot of this just in the classroom, from people disagreeing with beliefs to the way people act.
This novel also had it's appeal because of where it took place. There were many towns in this novel that I recognized because Alice grew up in Southern Ontario and made all of the settings of her short stories be in places that she knew as she was growing up. It made it easier to stay on track while reading because the thought 'Oh I know where this is' made me interested and wanting to keep the pages turning. It made it easier for me to connect with some of the stories because living in a small town for my whole life I know the feeling of knowing every neighbour and the cars they drive. Some of the places that were familiar included, Kitchener which is where Madeleine was from, Toronto which is where she ran to, London, and several other towns from around our area.
All in all I felt this novel was well written and interesting in most parts. I feel as though some of the short stories were stretching my patience span but did not harm me too much.
While reading this novel I had many mixed feelings for it. Some of the stories in it were fairly interesting and not boring, while others did not appeal to me one bit. I really enjoyed the first section of this novel which was called The Flats Road. This story kept me on my feet at all times with no stops in the rise and fall of the climax. The story had the feel where you got pulled into it because you felt for the characters, especially for Diane (Madeleine's daughter) and Del's Uncle Benny. This short story was the best in my perspective also because in a way you could relate it to the society we live in and many challenges that people right next to us might be going through.
I also took interest in the fourth short story "Age Of Faith." This section of the novel was very well written I found, because Alice Munro was able to write it in a way that it did not make it go against any religions. Any Catholic to Atheist human being can read this chapter and agree with what is being said because there was so many different views and it shows that what ever you believe in you should continue to believe in. Del goes against her mother showing that she is trying find her place in religion where her mother is not. Going to a public school you see a lot of this just in the classroom, from people disagreeing with beliefs to the way people act.
This novel also had it's appeal because of where it took place. There were many towns in this novel that I recognized because Alice grew up in Southern Ontario and made all of the settings of her short stories be in places that she knew as she was growing up. It made it easier to stay on track while reading because the thought 'Oh I know where this is' made me interested and wanting to keep the pages turning. It made it easier for me to connect with some of the stories because living in a small town for my whole life I know the feeling of knowing every neighbour and the cars they drive. Some of the places that were familiar included, Kitchener which is where Madeleine was from, Toronto which is where she ran to, London, and several other towns from around our area.
All in all I felt this novel was well written and interesting in most parts. I feel as though some of the short stories were stretching my patience span but did not harm me too much.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Oh! Mr. Best You're Very Bad
"Oh! Mr. Best you're very bad" is a poem written by Jane Austen. This poem does not follow a specific type of poetry for the fact that it follows a free verse, black verse, and a lyric poem structure. You may not think that it is possible to follow all of these different types but Jane's tends to do this. I found it weird when I was looking at this poem that it followed a rhyme scheme where not every line rhymed with something, it was different with only two lines per verse rhyming. This poem is also written in a form where there is 11 different verses which consist of 4 lines each, this is what makes it a free verse poem. While I was analysing this long poem I also found that it followed Iambic tetrameter which is where there are two different amount of feet for each verse. This poem I found had the first and third line having four feet, and the second and fourth lines having three feet. I also found that it followed an unstressed stressed pattern.
Now for the story that comes from the poem. This poem is an interesting poem because of it's story. As you read the title it shows you that it will be talking about Mr. Best and it should also tell us how he is very bad. When you read the title you also feel as though it is in a naughty way but it is actually in a way a hate poem towards him. As you begin to read the poem you can see that she is disappointed in a decision that he has made and that he is going for a different female. I felt that this poem had a lot of hatred towards Mr. Best and the way that he has acted toward the poet. I also feel as though in Jane feels that Mr. Best has made the incorrect decision and that he is going down the wrong path. She is showing how she feels and is very angry with him as if someone would be after they have been dumped or call a relationship off. I thought this poem was very interesting because many people could relate to it for the fact that it is a very typical situation that could of occurred. I really liked this poem because it was written in a different manner that I have not studied in previous English classes and feel as though it was interesting to see a very good author write a poem that is also in my category of interest.
Now for the story that comes from the poem. This poem is an interesting poem because of it's story. As you read the title it shows you that it will be talking about Mr. Best and it should also tell us how he is very bad. When you read the title you also feel as though it is in a naughty way but it is actually in a way a hate poem towards him. As you begin to read the poem you can see that she is disappointed in a decision that he has made and that he is going for a different female. I felt that this poem had a lot of hatred towards Mr. Best and the way that he has acted toward the poet. I also feel as though in Jane feels that Mr. Best has made the incorrect decision and that he is going down the wrong path. She is showing how she feels and is very angry with him as if someone would be after they have been dumped or call a relationship off. I thought this poem was very interesting because many people could relate to it for the fact that it is a very typical situation that could of occurred. I really liked this poem because it was written in a different manner that I have not studied in previous English classes and feel as though it was interesting to see a very good author write a poem that is also in my category of interest.
The Red Tent - By: Anita Diamant
The Red Tent is a novel written by Anita Diamant and is the novel that I have chosen to read and write my literary essay on. This novel is based approximately 2000 years ago. The Red Tent is a historical fiction based on a biblical story, from the book of Genesis. It is about Dinah who has no voice in the biblical story, but Anita makes Dinah have a voice and uses it. The story is written from a female perspective, from the women all around Dinah as she grows from a child to a grown woman. Personally I thought it was a good book for the fact that it was so different but real at the same time. It was Anita's first time writing a novel and she did a good job, she added a lot of historical facts into the novel without us even noticing.
This novel is more for women than for men for the fact that it is told from the females perspective and has a lot of detail in parts of the novel where males will not be able to handle. Dinah's mother (Leah) and aunt (Rachel) are both midwives who help females who are delivering babies, Dinah eventually also becomes one. This is where a lot of description comes in and some people do not want to read about this. This is where the males stop and the females keep reading. An example from the book is,
"But I had no time to be sorry for myself, because suddenly a strange red bubble emerged from between Leah's legs and then, almost immediately, a flood of bloody water washed down her thighs. Leah tried to stand, terrified, but Inna told her not to take her feet off the bricks... Leah pushed, her face red, her eyes bulging, blue and green, glittering..."
I also really enjoyed this book because it shows the many different ways that women were treated 2000 years back. The "red tent" is the first part that I would like to comment on. The red tent is a tent that the females have to go and stay during their "time of the month" and also while they are carrying their husbands child. No males are allowed to see them during this time which makes for the fact that the males generally have more than one wife and several children. Jacob for one has 4 wives and 13 children.
Females were also treated poorly when it came to how their husbands treated them. Now a days your husband should love you becuase you plan on spending the majority of you life with them but in this novel the husbands just got married so that they could have children. But the children were only desired if they were males because males are the only ones who can actually do work, according to the men of this society. Females where only put on the earth for the purpose of childbearing. It is in a way like "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood for the fact that females were looked upon as nothing but the carrier of babies. Both of these books were interesting and a good read. I feel as though they were both well written and have twists that I don't normally see in my type of novel.
This novel is more for women than for men for the fact that it is told from the females perspective and has a lot of detail in parts of the novel where males will not be able to handle. Dinah's mother (Leah) and aunt (Rachel) are both midwives who help females who are delivering babies, Dinah eventually also becomes one. This is where a lot of description comes in and some people do not want to read about this. This is where the males stop and the females keep reading. An example from the book is,
"But I had no time to be sorry for myself, because suddenly a strange red bubble emerged from between Leah's legs and then, almost immediately, a flood of bloody water washed down her thighs. Leah tried to stand, terrified, but Inna told her not to take her feet off the bricks... Leah pushed, her face red, her eyes bulging, blue and green, glittering..."
I also really enjoyed this book because it shows the many different ways that women were treated 2000 years back. The "red tent" is the first part that I would like to comment on. The red tent is a tent that the females have to go and stay during their "time of the month" and also while they are carrying their husbands child. No males are allowed to see them during this time which makes for the fact that the males generally have more than one wife and several children. Jacob for one has 4 wives and 13 children.
Females were also treated poorly when it came to how their husbands treated them. Now a days your husband should love you becuase you plan on spending the majority of you life with them but in this novel the husbands just got married so that they could have children. But the children were only desired if they were males because males are the only ones who can actually do work, according to the men of this society. Females where only put on the earth for the purpose of childbearing. It is in a way like "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood for the fact that females were looked upon as nothing but the carrier of babies. Both of these books were interesting and a good read. I feel as though they were both well written and have twists that I don't normally see in my type of novel.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Jane Eyre - Character Analysis
Throughout the novel there are many characters introduced, the main character being Jane Eyre. Jane is the type of person who follows her feelings and stands strong with her beliefs. The way I found that Jane did this was when she had her first taste of love for Mr. Rochester she loved him no matter what he did or what others said about her. Ingram for one was in love with Mr. Rochester and said she was going to marry Mr. Rochester, this did not bother Jane at all because she knew that Mr. Rochester did not love Ingram at all and actually had strong feelings for Jane. Jane's character I would have to say is a very strong character for the fact that she had a very tough childhood and even a hard life to live because of the fact that her relatives despised of her. Jane took in a lot of pain and never really showed it she was one who could hide her feelings and took in a lot, her aunt never treated her fairly and lied to her uncle just so she wouldn't get inheritances.
Bertha Mason is another character that I found very interesting to read about. She is not in the novel very much but does make a large impact on the storyline. Bertha is Mr. Rochester's former wife who turned crazy just after they married several years earlier. Bertha is a very interesting character in my eyes for the fact that she is always locked up in a secret room in the third floor of Thornfield Hall. She is the one who is always making all of the ruckus that gets blamed on Grace Poole. Bertha is a crazy lady and has the tough edge because she is always trying to escape her life as a whole or even just trying to get away from Thornfield so she can start a new life. Bertha eventually makes a dramatic ending to her life by burning down Thornfield and leaving her life to plummet into the flames.
The Last character that I would like to analyse is Mrs. Reed. Mrs Reed is someone who feels that herself and her family deserve more than others in their life. She feels as though her children should be treated as upper class and have more potential in life. I think this because she treats her children with a lot of respect and not many limits, while her niece (Jane) is treated the direct opposite. Jane was always being punished for things that she didn't do and always was being punished by being locked up in the "Red Room". Mrs. Reed really feels that her children should be loved more than any other child. She gets very frustrated with her husband because he feels as though she is treating Jane very rudely and he feels bad for Jane. I feel as though Mrs. Reed is like a lot of parents that I have encountered in my life for the fact that they feel as though their children are always to be in the spotlight and need all the attention possible to get the most out of their time.
Those are some of the characters that I feel had a strong personality or a different type of characteristic that shone through the others in the novel.
Bertha Mason is another character that I found very interesting to read about. She is not in the novel very much but does make a large impact on the storyline. Bertha is Mr. Rochester's former wife who turned crazy just after they married several years earlier. Bertha is a very interesting character in my eyes for the fact that she is always locked up in a secret room in the third floor of Thornfield Hall. She is the one who is always making all of the ruckus that gets blamed on Grace Poole. Bertha is a crazy lady and has the tough edge because she is always trying to escape her life as a whole or even just trying to get away from Thornfield so she can start a new life. Bertha eventually makes a dramatic ending to her life by burning down Thornfield and leaving her life to plummet into the flames.
The Last character that I would like to analyse is Mrs. Reed. Mrs Reed is someone who feels that herself and her family deserve more than others in their life. She feels as though her children should be treated as upper class and have more potential in life. I think this because she treats her children with a lot of respect and not many limits, while her niece (Jane) is treated the direct opposite. Jane was always being punished for things that she didn't do and always was being punished by being locked up in the "Red Room". Mrs. Reed really feels that her children should be loved more than any other child. She gets very frustrated with her husband because he feels as though she is treating Jane very rudely and he feels bad for Jane. I feel as though Mrs. Reed is like a lot of parents that I have encountered in my life for the fact that they feel as though their children are always to be in the spotlight and need all the attention possible to get the most out of their time.
Those are some of the characters that I feel had a strong personality or a different type of characteristic that shone through the others in the novel.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Jane Eyre - My Thoughts
I have recently finished the novel "Jane Eyre" written by Charlotte Bronte. This book was one of the longer novels in our reading list for the women in literature group. I enjoyed the book but it was not one of my favourites. It was interesting and had a good story line, I just think that there was too many words to get to the real story.
The best part of the book I would have to say would be in the middle where the climax began to come into play. The part I am talking about is when Mr. Rochester was going to marry Blanche Ingram just to try and make Jane jealous of them. Ingram insists that she loves Mr. Rochester but it turns out she actually only loves the money under his name. I really like this part because it is when Jane shows that she is a strong person no matter how wealthy she is or how pretty she is, she loves Mr. Rochester and goes with her true feelings. She ends up almost marrying Mr. Rochester until they are just about to get wed and the true news comes out about Mr. Rochester. I enjoyed this part because there was a lot of ups and downs in the story line and there was also a lot of connections that could be made. The largest one I would have to say was why there was always so much noise coming from the third floor of the Thornfield house. We realized at this point it was not because of Grace Poole but because of who she was taking care of which was Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester's first wife who had turned crazy shortly after they married 15 years prior.
The second part that I liked about this book was that it was not just a few years of her life it was a whole life story, starting from when Jane was a child to when she was a grown women and beginning a new life with her new husband, Mr .Rochester. I liked how Charlotte Bronte did this because it showed the ways that Jane's character had changed throughout the years and how she also stayed the same in some ways throughout the whole novel.
I also liked the beginning when she was living at Lowood and had made her first friend who was Helen Burns. Charlotte wrote this novel so you could feel what Jane was feeling at that time with the pain and happiness. I liked how you could picture it perfectly in your head because of the amount of description and the amount of feelings coming from Jane's view. I was really into this book at the point when Helen got sick and nobody was allowed to go see her, but that didn't stop Jane. I liked how Jane was such a good friend that she snuck up to Helen's new room and spent Helen's last few hours in her bed. The best way to die would be knowing that someone you cared for spent your last couple of minutes right there with you waiting for the pain to end.
Those are the main parts that I enjoyed and why I enjoyed them.
The best part of the book I would have to say would be in the middle where the climax began to come into play. The part I am talking about is when Mr. Rochester was going to marry Blanche Ingram just to try and make Jane jealous of them. Ingram insists that she loves Mr. Rochester but it turns out she actually only loves the money under his name. I really like this part because it is when Jane shows that she is a strong person no matter how wealthy she is or how pretty she is, she loves Mr. Rochester and goes with her true feelings. She ends up almost marrying Mr. Rochester until they are just about to get wed and the true news comes out about Mr. Rochester. I enjoyed this part because there was a lot of ups and downs in the story line and there was also a lot of connections that could be made. The largest one I would have to say was why there was always so much noise coming from the third floor of the Thornfield house. We realized at this point it was not because of Grace Poole but because of who she was taking care of which was Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester's first wife who had turned crazy shortly after they married 15 years prior.
The second part that I liked about this book was that it was not just a few years of her life it was a whole life story, starting from when Jane was a child to when she was a grown women and beginning a new life with her new husband, Mr .Rochester. I liked how Charlotte Bronte did this because it showed the ways that Jane's character had changed throughout the years and how she also stayed the same in some ways throughout the whole novel.
I also liked the beginning when she was living at Lowood and had made her first friend who was Helen Burns. Charlotte wrote this novel so you could feel what Jane was feeling at that time with the pain and happiness. I liked how you could picture it perfectly in your head because of the amount of description and the amount of feelings coming from Jane's view. I was really into this book at the point when Helen got sick and nobody was allowed to go see her, but that didn't stop Jane. I liked how Jane was such a good friend that she snuck up to Helen's new room and spent Helen's last few hours in her bed. The best way to die would be knowing that someone you cared for spent your last couple of minutes right there with you waiting for the pain to end.
Those are the main parts that I enjoyed and why I enjoyed them.
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